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A Philosophy of Cover Songs - cover image

Copyright

P.D. Magnus;

Published On

2022-04-28

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80064-422-9
Hardback978-1-80064-423-6
PDF978-1-80064-424-3
HTML978-1-80064-677-3
XML978-1-80064-427-4
EPUB978-1-80064-425-0
AZW3978-1-80064-426-7

Language

  • English

Print Length

163 pages (xii+151)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 11 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.43" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 14 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.55" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback312g (11.01oz)
Hardback487g (17.18oz)

Media

Illustrations8

OCLC Number

1321794085

LCCN

2021390250

BIC

  • HPJ
  • HP
  • AV
  • AVA
  • AVH

BISAC

  • MUS020000
  • SCI075000
  • SOC026040

LCC

  • ML3470

Keywords

  • cover songs
  • contemporary popular music
  • musical performance

A Philosophy of Cover Songs

Cover songs are a familiar feature of contemporary popular music. Musicians describe their own performances as covers, and audiences use the category to organize their listening and appreciation. However, until now philosophers have not had much to say about them. In A Philosophy of Cover Songs, P.D. Magnus demonstrates that philosophy provides a valuable toolbox for thinking about covers; in turn, the philosophy of cover songs illustrates some general points about philosophical method.

Lucidly written, the book is divided into three parts: how to think about covers, appreciating covers, and the metaphysics of covers and songs. Along the way, it explores a range of issues raised by covers, from the question of what precisely constitutes a cover, to the history and taxonomy of the category, the various relationships that hold between songs, performances, and tracks, and the appreciation and evaluation of covers.

This unique and engaging book will be of interest to those working in philosophy of art, philosophy of music, popular music studies, music history, and musicology, as well as to readers with a general interest in popular music, covers, and how we think about them.

Endorsements

This short book is an engaging exploration of a range of issues raised by the phenomenon of musical covers. Magnus’s discussion of numerous fascinating and well-chosen examples impressively complements his theorizing, which clearly demonstrates the philosophical richness of his topic.

Prof. Andrew Kania

Trinity University in San Antonio

Reviews

The book is philosophically rich, engaging, and loaded with illuminating examples. It is worthy of sustained scholarly attention, but also accessible enough for a general audience. It would be an excellent book to adopt in any undergraduate course (at any level) on aesthetics and the philosophy of art, or in any introductory philosophy course with units on those topics...

Brandon Polite

The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. XX, no. XX, 2022.

Contents

1. What is a Cover?

(pp. 3–30)
  • P.D. Magnus

2. Kinds, Covers, and Kinds of Covers

(pp. 31–48)
  • P.D. Magnus

3. Listening to Covers

(pp. 53–70)
  • P.D. Magnus

4. The Semiotic Angle

(pp. 71–94)
  • P.D. Magnus

5. Some Metaphysical Puzzles

(pp. 99–110)
  • P.D. Magnus

6. How a Song is Like Ducks

(pp. 111–126)
  • P.D. Magnus

Epilogue

(pp. 127–128)
  • P.D. Magnus

References

(pp. 129–140)
  • P.D. Magnus

Introduction

(pp. 1–2)
  • P.D. Magnus

Interlude: Cover Bands

(pp. 49–52)
  • P.D. Magnus

Interlude: Torment and Interpolations

(pp. 95–98)
  • P.D. Magnus